The Profile Of A True Coffee Lover
There are a plethora of different topics that inform my head in the minutes between the time my head hits the pillow and my brain finally decides to shut down for the night. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that thoughts of my morning cup (or two) of coffee are typically at the top of this list. This is how I know that my coffee drinking has become more than just a ‘habit’…it is now a full blown addiction. I love waking up early simply because I know that early mornings yield a greater intake of coffee throughout the day. The more excuses I have to consume this hot, steamy, delicious, comforting beverage in excessive amounts, the better.
Last year, I found myself typing this exact phrase into the Google search bar: How many cups of coffee is it safe to consume in one day? The overwhelming answer was somewhere around five (of course, we must consider weight, gender, age, heart health, and other factors in order to gain a true sense of what is acceptable for each individual but I was just going for some kind of roundabout answer). So I took that to heart, trusting the not-so-trustworthy Yahoo Answers as a means of justifying why four cups is ‘reasonable.’ Realistically, I am completely aware that four medium-sized cups of regular coffee is anything but a ‘healthy’ habit. I however do not claim to have a bad habit. I have an addiction.
If I logically understand that I should not be downing mounds of liquid coffee beans each day, why do I still do it? I wish I could say. Part of me does it as a means of staying awake late into the night – I am in college after all – but there is another part of me that does it simply for the taste. Black coffee with two Splenda packets is actually the most savory flavor to hit my taste buds at any hour of the day. And before you accuse me of simply convincing myself that I love coffee without actually loving it, let me tell you how this addiction started.
Instant, decaf, Stop & Shop brand coffee. This is actually the most repulsive type of coffee you can purchase – especially if you are a seasoned coffee drinker – and the first type of coffee that I tried. It is store brand, caffeine-less, and ultimately, fake (at least in the sense that you put a spoonful in a cup of hot water, stir it and Bam! you have your coffee, no coffee maker needed). I used to drink a cup of this exact coffee before bed every night in high school. It was decaf so obviously I was not drinking it to keep my eyes open, nor was I drinking it because it was the most irresistible coffee in existence (no matter how much you ‘love’ this coffee, it is impossible to deny that it is anything but the best quality coffee out there). I was drinking it because I liked it. I liked the taste. I liked the warmth of the hot liquid on a cold February night.
My first experience with coffee is what I attribute my addiction to; I started out loving the worst coffee on the market and the more I tried ‘quality’ coffee, the more I realized just how much better that coffee was. I already loved the bottom of the barrel so it is no surprise that my first medium black coffee from Dunkin Donuts was the closest I have come to Heaven thus far. This is precisely why I argue that I am a ‘true’ lover of coffee.
So if you find yourself capable of loving the worst coffee out there, you my friend are the epitome of a genuine coffee addict and a bona fide java enthusiast.